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kthealey's review
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
A story within a story, paced like a fever dream with looney tunes logic, interjected with what norm would probably describe ironically as his life’s “highlights”.
As a disclaimer, I loved this book. He really dug deep & was able to hit you in a million unexpected ways with hard truths about the cruelty of the world, interlaced with jokes that are essentially someone getting pied in the face or stepping on a rake. norm as a character is cruel, obnoxious, stupid, and hateful, making a caricature of himself as the villain in his own life, often because it’s hilarious.
My biggest complaint was the out of place and frankly dated “jokes” l at the expense of a trans woman, making her out to be an aggressively masculine liar and manipulator. Norm loves a joke where the punchline is somebody’s unwittingly done something gay, but this just comes off as offensive and like a terrible stereotype from an 80’s movie… embarrassing for a book released in 2016. He loves to poke fun at fragile masculinity, but only with the satisfaction that it’s just a joke and everyone can go back to the comfort of being a straight cis man when the punchlines been told.
It’s disappointing to know your hero would treat you like a circus attraction, especially after an entire soul baring journey like this.
As a disclaimer, I loved this book. He really dug deep & was able to hit you in a million unexpected ways with hard truths about the cruelty of the world, interlaced with jokes that are essentially someone getting pied in the face or stepping on a rake. norm as a character is cruel, obnoxious, stupid, and hateful, making a caricature of himself as the villain in his own life, often because it’s hilarious.
My biggest complaint was the out of place and frankly dated “jokes” l at the expense of a trans woman, making her out to be an aggressively masculine liar and manipulator. Norm loves a joke where the punchline is somebody’s unwittingly done something gay, but this just comes off as offensive and like a terrible stereotype from an 80’s movie… embarrassing for a book released in 2016. He loves to poke fun at fragile masculinity, but only with the satisfaction that it’s just a joke and everyone can go back to the comfort of being a straight cis man when the punchlines been told.
It’s disappointing to know your hero would treat you like a circus attraction, especially after an entire soul baring journey like this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
edgario's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Honestly a pretty biased review here since Norm is my favorite comedian. In my opinion, he seems to have the best interviews across every talk show. This book is a combination nonfiction telling of his early life and fictional stories.(?) You’ll find yourself wondering what’s true and what isn’t. He says it himself on Conan’s show that he meant for this book to be a novel. After all the title is BASED on a true story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
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